


Smoldering Ruins

by theauthor2010



Series: The Rebuilding Series [3]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other, Rape/Non-con References, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-14
Updated: 2011-05-20
Packaged: 2017-10-16 23:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/170567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theauthor2010/pseuds/theauthor2010
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The past is a powerful entity, even as the future becomes brighter, better and stronger. Part Three of The Rebuilding Series, Following The System and Disaster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Perfect Christmas Eve

Kurt glanced into the kitchen, grinning as he saw Beth helping Carole roll cookie dough out onto a cookie tray. “Cutest thing isn’t it?” his father asked, when Kurt returned from his spying mission. “Carole and Beth have been working on cookies for awhile now. That daughter of yours is going to be a Master Chef, you know that?”

Kurt grinned.

"She’ll be a Master Chef after she’s an acrobat, a musician, a Broadway star and the President of the United States,” he teased lightly. His family had a lot of ambitions for the five-year-old and he supported them one hundred percent. Beth was destined to do any and everything that she wanted.

“How’s life been Kurt?” Burt asked, smiling. Kurt could see that his father’s eyes were still full of dreams for Beth. He understood that completely.

“Nothing if not hectic,” he said, shaking his head from side to side and just breathing because he could for once. “There’s work, school and getting Beth through her day to day. I’m just glad our kindergarten baby is off school for two weeks. That takes a heavy load off.

“She’s just so big and beautiful Kurt. I can’t believe how much she’s grown since you two last brought her over.” “

Kurt grinned brightly.

“She’s growing like a weed, I do admit,” he said. “We’re always shopping for new clothes for her.”

“How’s she enjoying kindergarten?”

“She loves being a big girl,” Kurt said softly, happily. “She’s one of the smartest kids in the class, according to her teacher. She loves writing and makes these really elaborate storybooks in class. She’s…quite animated and a total drama queen in class too.”

“I never expected less of your kid,” Burt mumbled.

Kurt smiled proudly. “What was that Dad?” he asked. “Are you saying I’m dramatic or something?”

“Yes, I am.”

Kurt was still beaming as he continued speaking. “She’s doing so well in school and they’re going to have a pageant later this year. She cannot stop talking about that. She’s just…she’s perfect you know?”

“Oh trust me, I know. How about you, Kurt? How’s work going?”

Kurt winced a little. Beth was a bit more of a pleasant subject.

“Well,” he said. “I am little more than a glorified receptionist at the moment but I am breaking into the theater business. I’m doing a school production of Les Miz, so the job is really some nice supplemental income but at the same time, it’s annoying.”

“Just keep working Kurt; you’ll make it down the path you want.”

“I know I will,” Kurt said. “I’m a little tired of being a lowly assistant but hey, getting there.”

“What about Noah?”

Kurt beamed as the conversation became a little more positive. “He’s doing great,” he said. “He’s a manager now and has been steadily working toward that business degree he’s always talked about getting.”

“Fantastic. I can’t believe how far you’ve come for Beth and for yourselves. You boys floor me every time I get to talk to you.”

“Oh neither can I…” Kurt said quietly. “We’ve made it far.”

While Kurt discussed the way life had changed, Finn and Puck were watching Beth and Carole work, very interested in the little girl’s excitement. They leaned back against the kitchen counter and started catching up, because it had been so long.

"How's fatherhood treating ya?" Finn asked, as he watched Beth and his mother work on the cookies.

Puck smiled at his best friend, looking away from his daughter and her work for only a split second, before his eyes returned right back to her. "It's amazing Finn," he said. "Beth is just so bright and more amazing every day. I don't know how Kurt and I ever got so lucky."

He forced himself to look away from his daughter and looked to Finn. "Dude, can I show you something?" he asked.

Finn nodded, so he got up his courage and took out the engagement ring. It wasn't anything fancy, because money was still undoubtedly tight, but it was beautiful, a silver band with a tiny stone. "I'm going to ask Kurt to marry me tomorrow morning," he said quietly.

Finn's mouth hung open.

"You and Kurt are...you're so young dude, and...I...wow..."

"We are," he said, closing the box and slipping it back into his coat pocket. "I can't deny that we are but we've been dating since I was seventeen, we have an amazing child together and it's just time."

"I...I do agree."

"Do I have the big brother approval?" Puck asked, nervously.

Finn gave him a nod.

"Cookies are done!" Beth yelled.

Finn’s mother waved both boys over. Puck and Finn were quick to come to that call. “Our first batch of cookies just came out and Beth wants her daddy and her uncle to try some,” she explained. Beth eagerly held out a plate with a cookie split in half on it. Finn and Puck both took a piece.

“Oh wow Beth,” Finn said, after taking a bite. “I think these are the best cookies that I’ve ever tasted in my whole life.”

“I agree,” Puck said, glad that his best friend was playing it up for the little girl. “Oh wow these are awesome. You did really good Beth. Grandma taught you good.”

The little girl was positively beaming because of the cookies. Finn swooped her up and she burst out in hysteric giggles. “Look at this!” she said, showing him a tiny silver colored necklace that she wore around her neck. “Auntie Quinn gave it to me.”

Finn smiled and touched the tiny charm, a crown. “Pretty and very fitting,” he said, glancing at Puck. “It’s too bad Quinn couldn’t come down. I would have liked to see her again. Did you write Santa, Beth?”

The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Papa helped me with the hard words but I wrote it!”

“That’s awesome.”

Carole leaned up over Finn’s shoulder. She smiled at both of the boys and then down on her granddaughter.

“Can you boys take Beth out to join the others for dinner? It’s all ready now and we can have Beth’s excellent cookies afterward.”

They took Beth into the dining room where Kurt and Burt had set the table.

“Rachel will probably be late,” Finn said, as he straightened out his place setting and took a seat. “She told me that she would. Planes have been delayed all over the country because of the weather but she promised that she wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“I’m just glad she agreed to come,” Burt said, smiling at his stepson. “It’s been too long since any of us have seen that girl since she headed out to the city. I have to admit that we’ve even missed hearing her voice around here.”

“Seriously dad?” Kurt teased, but it was all in good nature. He absolutely loved Rachel Berry and could not wait to see her again.

“I wanna sing with Aunt Rachel,” Beth piped up, sitting at her chair. It was a little more padded then the rest as Beth Puckerman was still a very small child, even at five years old. “She promised we could sing.”

“Oh there will be singing,” Finn assured his niece. This made her break into a smile.

Dinner was amazing. It was nice, everyone being together as a family. Rachel didn’t end up arriving until halfway through the dinner, but when she did, she apologized profusely, hugging Beth tightly to her and greeting everyone with a ton of enthusiasm. “I am so sorry that I missed so much of dinner,” she said, as Carole rushed to make her a plate too. “Things have been so crazy I was about ready to cry but then I remembered I was going home to my favorite people in the world.”

“We missed you too, Rach,” Puck teased.

“Look at how big you’ve grown Beth!” Rachel said, fussing over the tiny little princess. “I can’t believe it. What have your daddies been feeding you?”

Beth looked down at her plate. “Carrots?” she said.

Rachel burst into giggles.

They all finished eating, Rachel a little slower than the rest, and Beth brought them their cookies. “I helped Gramma make em,” the girl declared as she made Rachel pick out a cookie. “These ones are vee-gan so that you can eat them too, Auntie.”

Rachel smiled and took a cookie. “Thank you Beth.”

The entire group fussed over Beth and the cookies. Puck smiled and looked to Kurt. It was the perfect family Christmas Eve. It was what they had dreamed it would be and neither of them could wait for the next morning.


	2. Love and charges

The next morning, Puck was lying in the guest room bed when his daughter burst into the room and sat on his lap. “Daddy, it’s Christmas,” she said, pecking his nose with a kiss. She grinned the moment that his eyes opened. “Papa’s already awake but said I had to wake you up before we can go downstairs.”

“Sending in the five-year-old Kurt?” Puck called down the hall. “Low.”

Kurt walked in, smiling at Puck mischievously. He had two cups of coffee in his hands and handed his boyfriend one of them. He leaned down and kissed Puck on the lips, something that made Beth giggle and roll her eyes every single time. She thought that her parents were so incredibly silly when they did things like that. “I hate waking you up,” he said. “It’s become the bane of my existence in the past few years and Beth was excited for Christmas morning. I figured I’d let her come in and wake daddy.”

“I’m up, I’m up,” he said, sitting up in bed. “It’s Christmas morning. How can I not be excited? I’m still a kid at heart Hummel, don’t forget it. Bethie, sweetie, go get up and see what Santa laid out for you. I gotta have a second to get myself up.”

The girl did not have to be asked twice. She ran out and down the stairs into the living room and Puck slowly stretched his back, taking a long drink from the coffee cup that Kurt had given him. “Merry Christmas baby,” he said, leaning over and kissing Kurt quickly. Kurt smiled and wrapped an arm around him as they kissed. It was a very nice moment and excited him for the rest of his plans.

“Let’s go see. I wanna see how the diva likes her karaoke machine.”

They padded out into the living room to find Beth staring in wonder at the little pink karaoke machine that Santa had mysteriously left for her. “Look Daddy, Papa,” she said, pulling out the microphone and waving it around. “I can sing like you.”

“That is so awesome,” Kurt said, grinning at the child’s excitement.

Rachel was already awake and walked into the room a moment later with several cups of coffee and hot chocolate. “I thought that I heard little feet,” she said grinning. “That is so cool Beth. You and I are gonna have to do one of our famous duets you know that?”

“Really?” Beth asked, excited.

“Yep,” she said. “Morning boys. Merry Christmas. Finn’s still groaning and making sounds but he’ll be down in a few.”

“Didn’t expect him to react any other way. Are Dad and Carole awake?”

“Yes they’re in the kitchen.”

It took another five minutes for Beth’s grandparents to get to the front room. Finn took twenty more minutes and when he arrived he looked like some kind of groaning creature. He tucked himself into the corner of the couch but he watched the festivities, especially Beth’s reaction with a childish grin.

Beth was completely and utterly spoiled of course.

She received many gifts including: a set of hot wheel cars from grandpa (Beth had a fascination with cars like a true Hummel child), some cookware for her big playhouse from grandma, a basketball set from Uncle Finn and a lot of Broadway cds for her karaoke machine from Aunt Rachel. When Beth asked Rachel how she knew, Rachel employed that she was psychic as an answer.

As the gift-giving died down, Puck knew that this was his moment.

“Uh everyone, I have a gift for Kurt,” he said, looking at his boyfriend. He registered the confusion on Kurt’s face with joy. “Kurt, I love you. You saved my life when we were kids and got me through the unimaginable. You also helped me bring up the most amazing child in the world, our Beth. I can’t even imagine surviving, nevertheless getting this far without you. I know we’re young but we’ve seriously went through like two lifetimes. I’m not very good at speeches okay, but…”

He went down on his knee, knowing that his boyfriend appreciated the classic and romantic. He took out the ring.

“Kurt, will you marry me?”

Kurt’s mouth hung open and he gaped, several harsh breaths escaping his lips. “I…I …yes,” he said, shaking his head up and down almost hysterically. “Yes, yes of course. Always, you and me. Yes. Please.”

He slipped the ring on Kurt’s finger. Kurt was crying and damn it, he was going to cry too if he kept that up.

Everyone was a little bit hysterical. Carole immediately jumped up and went to Kurt’s side to look at the ring and Rachel leaned over to hug Finn, watching Kurt with bright eyes. Everyone’s’ attention seemed to turn to the recipient of the proposal, except for one person’s attention.

“Daddy?” Beth asked. “What’s happenin’?”

Puck lifted the tiny girl into his arms. “I asked your daddy to marry me. I want to be married to him like grandma and grandpa are.”

Beth’s eyes got big and she put her arms around her daddy. “Yes!”

-

The rest of the holiday was oh too-fast. It was too soon that they had to return home and back to their normal lives. Kurt was not looking forward to it, especially since on the first day, he had been forced to go back to work while Puck stayed home with Beth. He came home that evening looking forward to spending some time with his family.

On the first day back from their wonderful Christmas vacation, Kurt had felt he was owed that much. He was not going to get it, however. He instantly knew something was wrong.

The first thing that he noticed when he walked into the room was the quiet. Puck and Beth were his family and he adored them both, but neither of them could be quiet, especially around midday. This was the time when there was usually shrieking and yelling from at least one of them. Kurt could not shake off the feeling that something was very wrong with his fiancé, his daughter or both.

“Bethie?” Kurt asked, using one of Puck’s many nicknames for their daughter. The little girl was sitting at her table coloring, but at the same time she looked anxious and upset. He could almost swear he saw tears in the corners of her eyes. He knelt down to her level. “Bethie, what’s wrong?”

"Daddy's cryin'."

Beth looked at Kurt with an earnest and desperate expression. Kurt understood. Beth said those words in the same way that he would say his father was crying as a child. Little children never thought of their big strong fathers as the types to cry. Wait, why was Puck crying? Kurt frowned and hugged his daughter close. Beth looked up to Kurt, eyes wide and as horrified as those of a five year old could be. Kurt swept her up into his arms and looked at her worried face, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Why's daddy crying?" he asked her, cuddling his daughter close.

"I dunno," Beth said sadly. "He saw a paper."

"A paper?"

She nodded.

Kurt hugged his daughter and set her down and looked at her coloring. "Did you finish picture?" he asked.

"Almost."

Kurt smiled.

"Go finish it," he told Beth, kissing her nose. "I'll look at it when you're done and while you work I'll make daddy happy again, 'kay? I don’t take frowning daddy, not at all.”

"Okay," she said, looking immensely relieved as she ran back to her room.

Kurt swallowed and went to his room to find his fiancé. Puck was sitting at the computer desk in their bedroom, telephone tucked to his ear. He seemed to be waiting on a hold of some kind, eyes wide and panicking. They got even wider and Puck started talking, pretty frantically. “It was on my door,” he said, voice intense. “He threatened my family. Yes, yes, I think I do. Yes, I’ll be there. Yes. I can come right now. I just don’t know what to do. Yes, my fiancé just got home I can…alright, thank you.”

Puck hung up the phone and looked Kurt in the eye. “Watch Beth, Kurt,” he said. “I’m going to the police station.”

Kurt grabbed Puck by the arm. “Noah, what is going on?” he asked, his voice a little bit shrill. He could not help himself. Puck was freaking out and this was something Kurt had dealt with before. “Just breathe and tell me what’s happening ok? Beth said you were crying. What did you see?”

Puck paused, thinking for a moment and then handed Kurt a piece of paper. On it was a printed out note.

  
It’s been a long time. It looks like you’ve done very well for yourself. I’m sure you never forgot me because I never forgot you. I never forgot the way that you took my entire life away from me. You have a daughter now, huh? She’s a pretty little thing. It would be a shame if something happened to her.

He looked up at Kurt, as Kurt finished reading and looked back at her. “I did research real quickly, the minute I got this,” he said. “Trevor, the guy who raped me, he was paroled earlier this year. There is no doubt he did this.”

Kurt nodded, slowly.

“Alright. I’m going to call Shauna to come over and watch Beth. We’re going to go together. You should go talk to Beth really quick before we go too. Seeing you cry shook her up. We’ll handle this Noah.”

Kurt took charge because he had to.


	3. Faces

The police treated Puck like he was paranoid and like the threat was some kind of prank. Kurt was not happy, not happy in the slightest. This was his daughter being put at risk and he was ready to throw a fit. He sat at Puck’s side in the local police department, arms wrapped around his own body, anxious and afraid. Someone had threatened his daughter and the police were treating it like it was nothing. Kurt held his tongue, because he knew that Puck was doing a very good job speaking his case and he wasn’t as cool as Puck was under stress.

“I know that you have reason to suspect this man of threatening you,” the balding police officer said, his voice dripping with condescension. “It was a very traumatizing thing that you endured as a young man.”

“Yes, it was,” Puck said, keeping surprisingly cool. Kurt was proud of him. “It was traumatizing and I will never forget him. I will never forget what he did to me and what he’s capable of and now he’s out and threatening my daughter.”

“We’re going to run an investigation,” the officer said softly, hand on Puck’s shoulder all of a sudden. “We’re going to run an investigation but for right now, the best thing that you can do is go home to your daughter. Nobody is going to hurt her. You can have our assurance on that. We’re going to make sure that your home is one hundred percent safe.”

Despite Puck’s adamant protests, they did go home after that disastrous encounter. Kurt was worried for Beth and wanted to be there with his daughter. He knew that Puck wanted to be at her side to protect her too. Sometimes Kurt felt more certain that home and his fiancé could protect their own, far more than he was certain of the police. They were the ones who were her fathers, after all.

When they arrived home, the blur of a five year old rushed to their side and wrapped her arms around Puck’s leg. Her babysitter Shauna stood behind her, looking just as worried. Shauna was one of Kurt’s classmates and really loved being able to babysit Beth, but she had obviously picked up on the fact that something was wrong.

“I worried ‘bout you daddy,” Beth admitted quietly, sounding far older than five years old in that second.

Kurt turned his head and watched as his beloved’s face changed a little. Puck swept Beth up into his arms and kissed her on the nose. “Don’t worry about me, princess,” he said, softly. “Worrying is your daddies’ job. You never have to worry about us, ok?”

Beth nodded slowly, but it was obvious the child had another question to ask. “Why were you cryin’ daddy?” she finally blurted out shyly.

He hesitated.

“I had a bad memory that made me sad,” he told the child. “Papa kissed it all better though. He’s the best at kissing owies, right?”

She nodded in agreement.

He smiled at her and tickled her side. “I’m still feeling kind of blue, Bethie,” he admitted. “Did you eat dinner?”

She nodded.

“Alright,” Puck said happily. “Why don’t you go get your pajamas on and we’ll all go watch Mulan.”

This brightened up the little girl’s face, as that was her favorite Disney movie. She ran off to go get her pajamas while Puck and Kurt paid Shauna and assured the girl that they’d be alright. When the babysitter left, Puck turned to Kurt. “I really don’t know what to do right now,” he admitted. “So, I think we just need some family time.”

Kurt was proud of his fiancé. He had grown up so much and knew how to handle crisis in such a strong, mature manner. “I’ll go make snacks,” he said. “You make sure that Beth got her pajamas on and everything.”

Kurt went and made them some popcorn. He was really worried. He didn’t know much about the boy who raped Puck, but he was a disturbed young man then and now he was a grown man who had been released from a long prison sentence. He had been close to getting off scott-free for the rape too, when the corruption charges had been laid against the juvenile detention center. He would no doubt blame Puck for the fact that he had been unable to get off.

He shook his thoughts off when the microwave beeped. He put the popcorn into a bowl and went into the bedroom. He found Puck already cuddled up to Beth, who was wearing her pink Disney nightgown. “I brought popcorn!” he declared, putting the bowl on the bed and going to get a towel to lie down so that they didn’t spill crumbs.

“I bet it’s Papa’s icky popcorn,” Puck teased. “The kind that tastes like paper.”

“Papa’s food isn’t icky,” Beth argued.

“I win,” Kurt said, at his daughter’s approval. “She likes organic food. She’s my girl.”

Puck rolled his eyes and curled up close. He hit the play button to start the movie. Beth adored Disney movies, but this one had always been her favorite. It had been one of the first movies that they brought from Kurt’s house to their apartment after Beth had been adopted. Beth had seen it about a million times, but she never stopped staring at it like it was the first time.

Like any other Disney movie night in their household, there was a lot of singing. Beth sang quietly along with the heroine, mumbling her words sleepily and her daddies did their own fantastic rendition of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” one which left the little girl giggling hysterically.

It only took about forty minutes for their sleepy girl to fall asleep. She yawned a couple of times and tried her best to keep her eyes open, but pretty soon she was fast asleep between her fathers.

Kurt watched Puck for awhile, while the movie finished. He could see the horrible thoughts behind his eyes at it hurt. It reminded him far too much of the haunted teenager that Puck had been shortly after the rape. It had taken over his life. It had taken over who he was and it was likely going to be with him forever.

It made Kurt murderously angry. That horrible boy had already taken so much from the man he loved and now he was back, attempting to take even more.

Puck closed his eyes for a moment and Kurt watched as a tiny shudder passed through him. He cried out, very quietly. “What’s wrong baby?” Kurt asked, whispering his words as to not wake the child sleeping in between them.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” Puck said and got out of bed delicately.

Kurt sighed very softly. He hoped that this wouldn’t lead to Puck closing himself off again, like he sometimes did when he was distressed. Kurt very carefully got up and then covered Beth up with the blankets. He wanted her to sleep in their bed tonight. He knew that was over attached and normally he wouldn’t approve of such a thing but he wanted to feel like he could protect her tonight.

He went into the bathroom and found Puck staring into the mirror. “Hey,” he whispered. “I covered Beth up. I figure she can sleep in our room tonight. It might make us all feel a little bit better over this madness.”

Puck shrugged and looked at Kurt. “I can’t stop seeing his face again,” he whispered. “Why now, Kurt? It’s been years and I thought I’d let go of that.”

Kurt frowned softly and put his arms around his fiancé, holding tightly. “I don’t think something like that can ever truly leave you, not completely at least,” he admitted.

“He didn’t even care that he destroyed me,” Puck lamented. “I will never forget the way that he showed absolutely no remorse in that court room. I think he could easily try to destroy me again.”

Kurt nodded slowly. “I know you’re scared,” he said, even though Puck still had issues admitting to total fear. “I’m scared too. I think we should call Catherine, so that someone can be here for Beth if you and I need to leave and take action at any time. We can make it through this Noah. What haven’t we faced?”


	4. Support systems

The next morning, Puck called Catherine. She seemed very concerned by what he told her and agreed to come right away without much explanation. She was an awesome woman and knew how to handle a crisis well, without overreaction or asking too many questions. Puck was sort of in love with her and considered her part of the family. It was funny, considering the rocky start that he and Kurt had with the woman, but Catherine was one of the most important parts of all of their lives. She adored Beth and would do anything for her and had slowly become part of their family just because of how much she loved their daughter.

When he hung up with her, he looked to Kurt.

“I’m going to call Quinn,” he said quietly. “I know that she’s in school and we don’t need her to come down or anything, but I want to warn her and let her in on what’s going on.” He and Quinn had become best friends in the past few years and even though she did not identify as Beth’s mother, she was Beth’s aunt and loved the girl like any of her other unofficial aunts and uncles if not more. She also was the best friend Puck and Kurt could ask for.

“Hey Quinn.”

“Hey.”

“How are you?”

“I’m fine,” the girl said awkwardly. “What’s wrong, Noah? I can tell that something’s not right just listening to your voice.”

He predicted that. Quinn was a really perceptive woman and she seemed to be almost as in tune with him as Kurt was. “Q, you gotta promise not to freak out, alright?” he said, cradling the phone against his ear. “The guy who…who raped me in high school… he got out of jail and I found a note on our door yesterday, threatening us and threatening Beth. I think that it was him, no, I…I know that it was him. I’m really, honestly, scared Quinn.”

“Oh my god,” she said, after a moment of not speaking and just breathing, heavily. “Noah, I’ll take the next flight up there right now and-”

“No,” he said quickly. “Please, stay at school and everything. I just wanted to warn you, just in case things get out of hand. If things do get out of hand I might need you to come here, but things haven’t gotten out of hand yet and all.”

“Is Beth safe?” she asked shrilly.

“Of course she’s safe,” Puck said, hoping his confident voice hid the fact that he wanted to cry. “She’s always safe when Kurt and I are with her.”

He could hear Quinn breathing in and out on the other end of the line. It was how Quinn dealt with panic, having suffered from anxiety for many years. He felt badly for dropping this on her when he knew how hard it was for her to keep calm. “I…yes, I know that you guys would never let anything bad happen to Beth,” she said softly. “If you guys need me though, you just call me and I’ll be there in a split second, forgetting everything else. I promise. Nothing could keep me from you guys when you need me. I can bring Sam too if you guys need that. He feels the same about you two.”

“I expected no less, Quinn,” he said gently. “You guys are pretty much amazing. I just wanted to warn you.”

“I…I have to go,” she said, hesitantly, as though she really did not want to go. She was struggling with her words, delaying them.

“Don’t worry about it Quinn,” Puck said gently. “Bye, love you.”

“Love you too Noah.”

Puck hung up the phone and then wrapped his arm tighter around Kurt. He held him for a second before he decided that he had to do something with himself or he was going to lose his mind. “I’m gonna make breakfast,” he said. “Beth will be up in a minute and I have to do something with myself.”

Puck started cooking, Kurt hanging around idly and helping when he would let him. He was panicking just a little bit, his heart thumping in his chest, but he ignored it and did what he could to keep his family in order. Order was good and it kept Puck’s head from spinning out of control. Pretty soon, Kurt brought Beth to the kitchen and they all sat around the table. That was one of Puck’s favorite things about Beth’s holidays from school most of the time. He loved that it brought their family close together.

“How are you today Bethie?” he asked, trying to keep calm and make sure that his daughter didn’t pick up on his issues again. She was just too damned smart for them. Puck had never imagined that he would be the father of such an intelligent and perceptive child. The little girl looked at her orange juice cup with a sleepy smile that reminded Puck of himself when he had just woken up. She yawned.

“I jus’ woke up daddy,” she mumbled. “That’s silly.”

Kurt smiled at Puck and Beth and it seemed that he was also trying to keep the peace. “Guess what Beth?” Kurt asked excitedly, the voice so forced that Puck had to look up and shake his head. “Aunt Catherine is coming up to spend some time with us for a few days.”

“Really?”

The little girl’s eyes lit up. Puck knew that she was excited. Her Aunt Catherine always spoiled her like crazy and was very devoted to her. It was easy to for a little kid to pick up on that kind of love and devotion. Beth was the grandchild that Catherine never had on her own, but had found because her niece was Beth’s adoptive mother. Their bond was something special.

Puck looked down when he felt Kurt nudge at his thigh and grab his hand. Kurt was always one to pick up on Puck’s emotions and he knew what was going through his head. He gave Kurt a weak smile to tell him that he was okay and squeezed back. Maybe it was just a onetime thing, some random intimidation. Maybe they would be okay. Yes, they would have to be okay.

He and Kurt talked to Beth about what they would do when Catherine arrived, and she slowly moved out of sleepy-grumpy mode to excitement. She practically bounced in her chair as she ate breakfast.

Crash.

Just when Puck started to play with the idea that maybe, just maybe, he and his family would be safe and he didn’t have to worry, there was a loud crash in the front room. He sprung to his feet, pushing back his chair. “Kurt, keep Beth in here,” he said, running into the living room.

The crash had been the window shattering under the force of a large red brick. Glass sprayed all over the carpet and the brick sitting there in the middle, the sight made him stare in horror. He calmed himself down but then lunged forward impulsively and picked up the brick in his hand. He turned around and ran out the door, hoping to catch a glimpse of the assailant.

He flung the door open and ran outside. Nothing. Nobody. Not a single person in the goddamned area. He stared in shock and horror, just standing outside of the house with a brick in his hand and a slack jawed expression on his face. He looked down at the brick in his hand to see that the word SOON was scrawled on it with black marker.

“Calm down Beth, sweetie,” he heard Kurt saying as he walked back into the house. “Daddy just went to find out what the noise was for us.”

He saw Kurt peeking out of the doorway between the kitchen and the living room though. Kurt saw. “It’s alright,” he said, trying to keep calm and in control, though he felt anything but. “It looks like someone threw a brick through the window. It must have been some bad kids playing a prank or something.”

The words were for Beth’s benefit. He showed Kurt what was written on the brick. He knew that this was bad and that he had to figure something out. If the police wouldn’t help, he had to do everything that he could individually. He was not going to let the rape that had taken over so much of his life keep coming back. He was not going to let Trevor play games with him again. He was not anyone’s toy.

“Noah, stay calm,” Kurt said, gently, but he was freaking out too.

“I have to call the police Kurt,” he said gently. “You and Beth should go to the park or something, so that Beth doesn’t have to deal with this.”

Kurt opened his mouth to object but instead he nodded slowly. “Bethie let’s go get dressed.”

Puck then went to call the police.

“Hello? Yes. This is Noah Puckerman. I talked to Sergeant Hank Andrews last week, in regards to a threat. A brick has been thrown through my house’s window now and I need him to come here. Now.”

He was assured that someone would come investigate immediately, but that did not stop the panic he was going through. This was absolute madness and there was no escape from it.


	5. Waiting for answers

Puck waited for the police to arrive, pacing around the apartment. He did not touch the shattered glass, though he felt a compulsive need to, because he knew that he could not tamper with any more evidence than he already had. He couldn’t stop staring at the words, written in black marker, threatening him, threatening his family and threatening his very existence. It made him sick to his stomach, nauseous, to see the word ‘soon’ written in that ominous, threatening way. It made him think of the hawk eyes that had once stared at him from across a court room as Trevor was sentenced with rape. It made him think of the threats that were lying behind those emotionless eyes the whole time.

Puck was still terrified of him. He hated to admit to fear, but he would never stop being afraid of that boy. He had always been afraid of the boy who violated him, who stripped him of his dignity and nearly destroyed his life, but at the same time, the fear meant so much more now. He was no longer afraid of a memory alone, but he was actually terrified of the man himself, a man who existed and seemed to want revenge.

Two officers arrived at the apartment before Puck could spend too long contemplating his own terror. They were an odd couple of sorts: one officer was a short, balding man and the other was tall, lean and much younger. He quickly let them inside and both began to assess the situation. Not that there was really anything to assess, Puck mused. It was just a damaged window and a brick but the threat behind it was real and gave him more terror than he could imagine.

“Do you guys have the report that my fiancé and I put in?” Puck asked quickly. He did not want these men to dismiss this as some random teenage vandalism. This was a real threat to the safety of his family and they had to understand the seriousness of it. “This is serious shit. He’s out there again and is threatening my family. Doesn’t he have a parole officer or something? There has got to be a way to stop him.”

“I browsed your file on the way over,” said the younger officer, dismissing Puck’s worries but at the same time acknowledging them. It was absolutely infuriating and made him want to cut someone. “I understand your fears and the dire nature of this situation. Who was home when the brick went through your window?”

Puck tried to speak slowly, feeling his heart rate rising and breath quickening. “My fiancé was home and our baby girl, our daughter. She’s only five and this whole thing is really scary to her, so I sent him down the street to get her out of the way of all of this mess.”

“Can you call them to come back?” the man said seriously, quickly leafing through the file in his hands. “I want to get a full investigation of this situation and we need all witnesses present to file a complete report.”

“Of course,” he said, going to grab his cell phone. He picked it up and hit Kurt’s speed dial.

Kurt pushed Beth on the park swings and was reminded of when he had first met her. She was two years old and her mother had just died in a tragic accident. He had felt so much for her without even needing time to adjust. She had lost her mother young like he had and she needed so much in order to live the full and healthy life she deserved. She was caught in the middle of conflict and she needed her father. Kurt, by default, had become another parent to her. He would never forget the way that she asked Puck for him, wanting him around as much as her flesh and blood father. Kurt frowned as he thought about fatherhood. He had the greatest father possible and now he understood what his dad felt time and time again. He understood the ferocious urge of a father to protect his child. He would do anything to protect Beth from anything that would threaten her. She was his baby girl.

He was equally worried about her father, honestly. He knew that Puck had seen therapists and done all the right things but at the same time knew that memories of the rape would always be with him. He was also terrified of Puck one day coming face to face with that man again. It had been years but he would never forget the way his face looked after his courtroom battle. It was just seeing him that had done that.

God, Kurt knew that both he and Puck would do anything to defend Beth, but still he was terrified. What could they do now that a man was vaguely threatening her? What could they do to take matters back into their own hands? Kurt was never one for sitting around and waiting for what could be done. He was one to get things done.

Luckily, as he stood there pushing Beth, his cell phone rang. “Hey babe,” he said, recognizing that it was Puck instantly by the ringtone.

“Hey, can you guys come back home? The police are asking for you.”

Kurt nodded quickly. “Sure. We’re on our way.” He hung up and reached over to stop the five year old’s swing. “Hey Bethie,” he said, teasing her lightly. “We’re gonna go home now and help daddy out, is that okay? I’ll take you back here tonight and we can play a little bit more.”

“Sure Papa, let’s go,” she said jumping off of the swing. She then walked up to Kurt and looked at him with her big, beautiful eyes. “Is daddy okay?”

He nodded.

“There are going to be police at the house,” he explained to Beth as they walked home, his daughter’s hand nestled in his. “Don’t be scared of them though, because they’re just trying to figure out who broke our window.”

“’Kay!”

They returned home immediately to find Puck and the two policemen there. “You are Mr. Puckerman’s fiancé?” asked the older of the two.

Kurt nodded slowly as Beth took off her shoes and ran over to the couch. “That’s me,” he said, shaking the man’s hand. “I’m Kurt Hummel.”

“Kurt, can you tell me what happened?”

Kurt sighed a little bit at the tense nature of the question but explained to the best of his abilities. “We were in the kitchen eating breakfast,” he said seriously. “We heard a noise and Noah ran into the front room to see what happened. He told me to stay back with Beth. When I looked inside the living room, I saw that someone had thrown a brick through our front window. Noah ran outside to see if he could find who had thrown it, but he came back with nothing.”

Beth piped up quietly. “Are you gonna find who broke it?” she asked softly.

The younger of the two policemen, who was watching his partner question Kurt, turned to Beth and smiled. “Why yes we are,” he said seriously. “We’re not going to let anyone mess with a family like yours, little miss. What is your name, sweetie?”

“Beth C. Puckerman,” she said, giving her whole name with the bright sing-songy voice of a questioned child. “Whoever did this has to fix it.”

The man grinned. “Don’t worry Beth, we’ll see it fixed.”

After the other man was finished questioning Kurt, it was Kurt’s turn to ask the questions. “Is there a way that we can get this guy?” he asked. “I mean he has to have a probation officer or something, doesn’t he? He can’t just get out of prison for rape and then walk around free to threaten whoever he wants.”

“We’re on it now, Mr. Hummel.”

Kurt watched, uncomfortable, sitting down on the couch with Beth as they began to question Puck about things that he knew his fiancé would rather not deal with. “Kurt, take Beth to her room to go play a game or something,” Puck ordered, the moment that the word rape started being flung around with abandon. Kurt nodded and took Beth to the room as told.


	6. Recovering.

Puck answered the officers’ questions, trying his best to keep a level head even as he was forced to speak about his rape. He breathed deeply and answered each and every question to his fullest capability. He only stopped to stare when asked exactly why he was incarcerated in an Ohio juvenile detention center. The question brought back memories of being a wannabe bad boy. That world was so far from him. It was like another reality. “I was a stupid shit,” he said, wincing when both officers glared at him. “No, seriously, I was just an unstable, stupid sixteen year old kid. I was arrested because a couple of dudes that I was with decided it was a good idea to try and rob a convenience store. I was a dumbass but that has nothing to do with the rape.”

 

“Tell us about the rape, then.”

 

Puck swallowed, hit in the face with that question yet again. “I was cornered by this Trevor kid and a couple of his followers, I already told you that. He raped me while they kept anyone from stopping him. The people who ran the center decided to try and cover it up. They let me out on _good behavior,_ or so they called it, but it was really their way of keeping me quiet, saving their sorry asses. Later that year an investigation revealed what they hid and he was charged officially and shipped off to jail.”

 

“So, what you’re saying is that this kid got off scott-free for rape before the investigation.”

 

“That is true,” he said. “He was in juvie, so it’s not like he suddenly became a free man but he would have never been convicted if not for the investigation. I pressed charges, there was a trial and last I saw of him he was being tried as an adult for rape and put away.”

 

There was an awkward silence that lasted forever. The younger of the two officers then decided to ask the most uncomfortable and unrelated question possible. Puck stared up at him as he spoke. “You’re still a young kid,” he said. “Tell me about your daughter. Is she yours, biologically?”

 

He was a little offended by the words but answered truthfully. “Yes,” he said, not enjoying his character being up and examined. “Beth is my biological daughter. She was born when I was sixteen. Her birth mother and I gave her up for adoption when she was an infant, but when she was two her adoptive mother was killed in a car accident. Custody reverted back to me because I was always close to Shelby, the adoptive mom…I was never ready to be a dad at sixteen but I took control and took matters into my own hands to protect Beth when she had nobody else. My fiancé and I are good parents to her.”

 

He knew he was practically whining ‘I’m a good guy, I promise,’ at them, but he was dealing with so many insecurities.

 

“She’s everything to me,” he added softly. “If anything happened to her I’d die. I don’t want my screwed up past to come back to haunt her. She doesn’t deserve that.”

 

After the detectives left, Puck sunk down into the sofa. He closed his eyes, afraid that he would never be able to let go of his fears regarding the rape. It was always with him. If he wasn’t with someone as brave and strong as Kurt, he would have never survived it. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. His head was beginning to pound heavily; it was really hurting. He tried to calm his breathing down. Luckily, Kurt arrived immediately after. He very cautiously walked into the front room and sat down on the couch next to Puck. “Where’s Beth?” Puck asked soft, not even opening his eyes.

 

“She’s working on a very large art project,” Kurt said softly. “Aunt Rachel’s birthday card. How are you?”

  
He shook his head. “I’m not okay, if that’s what you’re asking.” Puck closed his eyes but that did not stop the tears from falling. Oh shit, he was crying.  "I can't do this anymore," he said. "I can't do this Kurt. I can't keep being questioned and trying to figure out who he is and why he's trying to destroy me. I want him to be dead; is that horrible? I wish that he would die so that I would never have to deal with what happened to me again. I can't handle it anymore; I can't handle being a rape _victim_."

 

Kurt frowned and rocked him from side to side, both arms around him. “You don’t have to cry sweetheart,” he comforted; his words soft and gentle but at the same time so hollow. Puck knew that the worst damage being done was on his brain. “You’re a survivor and always have been. It’s alright and it’s only going to get better.”

 

And Kurt and Puck did do everything in their power to make it better.

 

Catherine arrived at their front door the next evening and she was very concerned, but she started out her appearance by fussing over Beth per usual, as if nothing had changed. Puck could see in her eyes that she noticed the broken down window but she still said nothing. She was a very strong woman. “Hi Bethie,” she said, swooping up the five year old into her arms. “I really missed you.”

 

“Missed you too Auntie,” she said, clinging.

 

“I brought your late Christmas gift,” Catherine declared, reaching into her bag and pulling out a tiny photo album. “I was doing some scrapbooking at home and found all these pictures of your momma. I decided that you should keep some albums too like she used to. Shelby used to love her pictures.”

 

“Mommy liked em?” she asked softly. Beth always admired her mother, though she could barely remember her. Earlier in the year they had sat her down and talked to her about Shelby and though she was sad, Beth seemed determined to remember her mother and admire her as much as she possibly could.

 

Catherine opened up the book. Beth looked down on a smiling picture of her mom and started beaming. “She was pretty.”

 

“That is true,” Catherine said, flipping a few pages to a picture of a newborn Beth. “This was a picture she sent me shortly after you came into her world. Isn’t it pretty?”

 

Puck leaned over Catherine’s shoulder and looked down at the picture of infant Beth. He would never forget the way that it felt to look at her. She had owned his heart in an instant. “That is the prettiest picture that I ever saw in my whole life,” he teased. “Pretty baby.”

 

“Daddy, Papa, do you have new pictures?”

 

Kurt beamed at that. “You know I do,” he said. “I am a madman with a camera. We can find lots of pictures.”

 

“Why don’t you go look while I talk to Noah?” Catherine asked, looking at Puck with deep meaning.

 

He nodded.

 

As soon as Kurt and Beth went into the bedroom to delve into Kurt’s massive collection of pictures, Catherine spoke softly. “What’s going on?” she asked. “I don’t really understand much of what you told me on the phone. Is Beth in danger? What’s happening?”

 

He struggled with his words but he told her as best as he could. “Well,” he said softly, “you remember when I told you about being, being raped in high school. We just found out that the guy is free from jail. We just started getting a lot of threats. There was a note on the door and a brick went through our window yesterday morning. I don’t really know what to do. The police are doing their best but I’m scared for Beth.”

 

“Were there threats directed at her?” Catherine asked.

 

He nodded, slowly, watching as her beloved aunt’s face paled.

 

“I’m scared,” he admitted softly. “I don’t know what to do and I really just feel low on myself. This would have never happened if I wasn’t a stupid ass who wound up in juvie and now my daughter is in danger because of it. It’s like the stuff that happened back then will never go away. I can never get away from the dumb things I did or the fact that someone did something to me that’s just…always there.”

 

The woman looked him over and then smiled sagely. “You, my dear boy, opened an old woman’s eyes to a world she never knew before. You also saved a child who had lost her mother in a tragic accident. You’re a brave man and I know that you are going to beat this, no matter what, Noah.”

 

“I don’t know how to thank you for coming,” he said, changing the subject quickly. “I mean, you’re always there for us and support us and Bethie and it means so much.”

 

“That’s what family does,” she said.

 

Kurt and Beth reentered with a big bag of pictures. “Papa has so many,” Beth narrated happily. “He likes pictures.”

 

They poured the pictures out on the floor and Kurt sat crosslegged with Beth in his lap. Puck got a chair for Catherine and then joined his family. “Look at this,” he said, snatching up a glossy picture of New Directions performing during their senior year.

 

“It’s Auntie Rachel!” Beth said, pointing to the singing girl, “and Brittany and ‘Tana and Sam! Auntie Quinn too!”

 

“It’s so cool how we’ve all stayed close over these years,” Kurt said softly, picking up another picture. “Look at this one of Daddy and Aunt Sarah. I took that of them when your daddy was still like sixteen years old.”

 

“What a charming hooligan,” Catherine teased, nudging Puck on the shoulder from where she sat. “Amazing what he was to become.”

 

Puck grinned at her. “Look at this one of me and Quinn,” he said, handing it over to Kurt.

 

“Which picture should be next in the book?” Kurt asked Beth.

 

The little girl crawled out of his lap and then found what she was looking for. It was a picture of Kurt with his father and mother. He couldn’t have been older than she was now. “This one,” she said. “Then we have to find a picture of little Daddy too.”

 

“Alright,” Kurt said, grinning. It was a horrible situation but they were trying their best. Puck was proud of his family.


	7. Trespassing

“What’s going on?”

Puck was slowly but not comfortably becoming accustomed to dealing with police officers and the situations they brought along with them, but he was not pleased to see several officers outside of his apartment. One of them turned to him and he recognized him as the officer that had been investigating his case earlier. “A trespasser has been spotted on these premises,” he said clearly, before Puck could even as the question that was weighing on his mind. “I was on my way up to your unit after I oversaw the initial observation.”

He breathed deeply as he realized what that might have meant. He turned around to see Catherine and Beth following him. “Do you think that it’s him?” he asked the man, looking around, his nerves steadily growing.

“It’s very much possible.”

Catherine crossed her arms and looked at the police officer and then at Puck. “This guy is not playing around, Noah,” she said softly, seriously. “He’s stalking you and yours and that puts Beth and Kurt at risk as well. I think that you should get out of this town.”

“We’ll talk about that in a minute,” he said, picking up Beth in his arms, looking around. The little girl looked terrified and he wanted to calm her. She buried her face in his neck, still very uncomfortable with police officers. “Hey it’s okay baby girl. Remember what Papa and I told you about the police being here to help us out?”

She nodded slowly against his shoulder.

“I’ll meet you at your apartment later this afternoon,” the man said gently, looking from Puck to the new face. “We need to take the information back to the station and then you and I can discuss the potential nature of the building’s trespasser.”

Catherine quickly grabbed Puck by the arm and led him back to the apartment. The woman was incredibly strong and focused on the situation. He was thankful for the steady force she created for them.

“He’s stalking me, I know it,” Puck said, lowering his eyes.

“That,” Catherine said seriously, “is why you have to get out of town. You can go stay with family, right? Kurt told me that his father and stepmother have a rather spacious house and I’m certain they would be fine with keeping the three of you.”

“We can’t afford it,” Puck said softly. “Bethie go play ok?”

“Finnnne,” the child whined. “Everything is weird ‘round here now, Daddy.” She did leave though, huffing slowly.

“We can’t afford it,” he told Catherine quickly. “Kurt and I would lose our jobs if we left town and Beth is going back to school next week. We can’t really just take up and leave. I don’t know if we need to take off and leave.”

“I will handle the monetary situation, we can negotiate with your workplaces and Beth can be transferred to another kindergarten. I know that it seems a little bit on the extremist side, Noah, but something about this unnerves me a lot. What can I think?”

“We’ll think about it,” he mumbled, sitting down on the couch. He had to admit that as far-fetched as Catherine’s idea was, it comforted him. He was just so exhausted by all that had happened and he wanted to keep his family safe. It was becoming too much even though nothing had been done yet. He leaned back against the backrest of the couch, looking over at the bedroom.

Catherine went to join Beth and he rubbed at his temples, enjoying the moment of peace, being alone. He was just so tired, tired of all of this and the way that it made him feel. He was tired of feeling helpless and being scared of everything around him. The fear was killing him. He was being overwhelmed by fear.

“Damn it!” he yelled as he got up quickly.

“Catherine, Beth, I’ll be right back,” he called. “I need a second to calm down.”

He began walking along the path outside the apartment. It was very quiet and worked to calm his racing heart. This was just unfolding and becoming deeper, more conflicting and more confusing than ever. If that bastard had been on the property he and his family lived on, that meant that Beth and Kurt were at risk. He would die before he let something happen to either of them. It was the worst feeling in the world to think that his stupid mistakes in juvie could condemn them to a horrible fate.

Catherine’s suggestion was tempting, as far-fetched as it was. There was no way that he wanted to uproot his whole family on a whim and vague threats. Beth was only five but that kind of stuff affected kids deeply. Kids could not just be pulled up and moved around because their father was afraid. The bastard hadn’t even done anything apart from the vague threats that made Puck nauseous and on edge, but if he did, it would be his fault.

Where did all this insecurity come from? Deep down inside, he knew that what happened to him in juvie wasn’t his fault. He was a kid and he was sexually assaulted. He was raped. He wasn’t immediately condemned to rape because he was stupid enough to get thrown into juvie. It wasn’t his fault what happened to him but he couldn’t help the fact that he felt like it was. He couldn’t knock the incredible case of nerves. He closed his eyes and tried to just breathe. He just needed to be able to breathe.

He hit the ground hard.

The man wasn't much bigger than Puck but he knocked him down with a force much bigger than his body. Puck cried out as his head hit the floor painfully. He looked up and into hawklike eyes that had been in his head for almost five years. Pointed teeth were revealed by a curled smile and Puck knew that he was looking right into Trevor’s frightening eyes. "Miss me faggot?" he drawled, leaning up into Puck's face. "Imagine my surprise when I found out being fucked up the ass turns you queer. I saw that little homo you're with. Nice ass. It'd be nice to tear into that one too."

Puck wanted to fight, lash, defend Kurt but his body betrayed him and he froze up. He was absolutely scared into not moving. He tried to move his hand, his leg, anything, but he simply could not. He panicked and took in several cold breaths, barely moving. It felt as though ice was crushing into his lungs. He spoke out loud but it came out as a muffled cry. He could not be raped again. He couldn't. "What do you want from me?" he asked, determined not to cry. He found his voice and he was not going to cry.

"Little revenge," he drawled. "I mean you put me away..."

"You do anything to me and you go back!" Puck kicked him hard, finding his strength. "You get outta my life and you go home free."

The man stumbled but retained a grip on Puck. "I nothin'. No family, no posse, just revenge. You'll die pretty. Will you cry like you did when I fucked you?" Puck could see the man had come unhinged, his eyes wild and unforgiving. "I'm gonna..."

"Hey you!"

Puck turned his head to the side and Trevor took off running.

His neighbor, an elderly man, came running up to Puck, kneeling down at his side despite the fact that he walked with a cane. Puck found that amusing, he wasn’t sure why. He sat up, rubbing his head and found that he couldn’t stop shaking. “Are you alright son?” the man asked gently, putting one of his hands on Puck’s shoulder.

Puck shook his head. “Get the cops,” he said. “They’re on our property right now and everything. I…I’m…I need…he’s the trespasser the cops were here for. Please.” He slowly collected himself, urging the man to get up and head back to the complex. Puck did too, slowly. He walked back to his apartment to find the man talking animatedly to the cops. “Please go get him…” Puck said, feeling like he was going to fall down. “Please.”

Kurt, who had apparently just got home from work, came running downstairs at the commotion. “Noah?” he asked. “What happened? I just got home and…”

“He…almost killed me Kurt…” he whispered, unable to stop the intensity of the shaking. “He would have if-if someone hadn’t come by. I was…”

The police came running in Puck’s direction and he felt like he was going to faint. He hung on Kurt, praying to stay upright.


	8. Action Plan

Kurt took the lead, grabbing him by the arm and ushering him to a place where he could sit down. “Back off,” he told the police officer, who was getting dangerously close. “Give him a minute.” Puck thought, amused, that Kurt was the most vicious little thing in the whole world. He was too paralyzed to speak and he didn’t know why such an amusing thought was in his head at a time like this, but it was. He laughed under his breath and looked up with weary eyes at Kurt, who was patting his shoulder comfortingly.

“Baby, talk to me?” he said gently.

Puck looked at Kurt.

“He was there,” he said softly. “I was just trying to get my mind off of all this shit and he was there. He pounced on top of me and said that he was going to kill me. I…I totally froze up. He doesn’t want anything except revenge Kurt. He doesn’t want anything except to kill me, I swear it. Oh my god. He’s…”

He calmed down and spoke to the police as much as he could, words coming out stammered and with his heart in his ears. He told them exactly what happened in detail and didn’t stop breathing heavily until he and Kurt were alone, Catherine in the other room playing with Beth.

“We have got to get out of here,” he said, his fear very much evident. “Catherine was right. This dude isn’t messing around. I know it’s gonna be hard to get out of work but we have to at least get you and Beth out of here. I’m not going to let you get hurt or killed on my account. I’m not going to let this psychopath hurt you guys on his way to getting me.”

“Just relax, alright?” Kurt ordered, pressing his fingers into Puck’s shoulders, trying to force him into relaxing. Puck closed his eyes and tried to do what he was told. He had to listen to Kurt or else he was going to go crazy, right? He always knew that listening to Kurt was a surefire way to keep the crazies away. “We’re going to do whatever we can. We’re going to make sure that everyone is safe. He’s not going to get us. He’s not going to get you.”

“He wants me, not you guys. You have to get out now.”

“Don’t go all super heroics on me, okay? We’re all going to get out of here and it’s going to be fine.”

Puck wasn’t sure that it was fine but the show needed to go on, as always. He went to work the next morning, although leaving Beth and Kurt alone at home scared him half to death. Sure, the police had vowed to him that they would be completely safe but it was impossible to trust anyone else with the safety of his family, especially after he had looked Trevor in the eyes and realized what kind of lunatic he was dealing with.

He went through his day to day, which was fine, if not nerve-wracking. Talking to his boss proved to be an even worse disaster, especially since Puck couldn’t help be evasive about the nature of his family problem. He was not going to tell the man he worked for the nitty-gritty details of his painful life.

“I don’t understand your reasoning,” Paul said honestly. “I can’t give you a full leave of absence without reason or documentation.”

“You can let Pat leave when his wife has a kid and you can’t let me leave to keep my family safe.”

“Look Noah,” the man said, not lacking understanding, just lacking the knowledge that Puck had trouble expressing to him. “I can help you if I get some documentation. Talk to the police, or whoever is involved in this mess and maybe I can help you out. I’m totally bound to this right now.”

He went through the rest of his day rather depressed. He just wanted a moment to regroup, rethink and relax but of course that was not going to happen. When he returned home, the police were there yet again and a woman sat on the sofa. She had dark, curly hair and big eyes. “Noah, this is Katrina,” Kurt said tensely. Beth and Catherine sat at the kitchen table doing homework and Kurt and the police were with this woman.

“Uh hello,” he said, joining his fiancé on the small seat across from the sofa.

“She’s Trevor’s sister.”

Puck couldn’t help the way that his eyes immediately flashed over to the girl. She gave him a small, hesitant smile. “As soon as the police contacted my family about Trevor,” she said, glancing from the police officer and then back over to Puck, “I knew that I had to get down here and find out what was going on. I was afraid it was the young man he had sexually assaulted years ago. I…I wanted to let the police know that Trevor is mentally unstable to say the least. I wanted to make sure that he didn’t hurt anyone again.”

“The police have told me that they think us leaving town is best,” Kurt injected.

“It is,” the woman said softly. “I’m going to do all I can to help the police get in contact with my brother.”

“You all need to get out of here as soon as possible,” the police officer told Puck, standing nearby and looking serious. “Miss Ramirez has given us reason to believe that you are in a lot of danger and would be best to vacate the area for the time until we apprehend the suspect.”

“His pouncing on me and threatening to kill me wasn’t enough?” Puck snapped, in spite of himself. “I need some kind of documents or some shit to even think about getting out of here but yeah, I’m sending my family out the moment I can.”

“We’ll handle that.”

“I’ve lived my whole life far from him…” the woman mumbled. “May I leave?”

“Of course Miss Ramirez, I’ll escort you outside,” the officer responded.

While the man escorted the young woman outside, Puck turned to Kurt and frowned. “Alright,” he said. “You and Beth need to go out on the next flight. I just need you out of here.” His head was swimming a little bit. He rubbed his fingers along his temple and breathed in and out deeply. He could not think with all of the conflicting information that was going off in his head. “We’re going to figure this out and it’s all going to be okay right? Right?”

Kurt frowned at the way he was rambling. “Right…” he said with a bit of hesitance in his voice. He looked from side to side and then right back to his fiancé. “I’m not so sure about you staying behind though. Maybe the documentation won’t take too long and then we can all get out of here. I’ve already talked about leaving to my boss. I want out.”

“I don’t want to risk that.”

“I’m going to go talk to Catherine. Go lay down, Noah.”

He felt a little bit insecure but he walked over to the couch and laid down.


	9. I want to end this.

How did one tell his father that he was in serious danger and needed to come live at home for awhile? Kurt pondered that question as he held the phone in his hand. He had told Puck that it would be best if he called home and broke the news but he honestly had no idea how. His father was going to freak the hell out which wasn’t going to help anyone. Still, it was best that he did it in all respects. Ever since he had confronted Trevor face to face, Puck had not been the same at all. He was jumpy, terrified and he wanted to get his family to safety. Kurt could not blame him, all the hell he had been put through.

He hit the speed dial. It rang four times and he nearly hung up out of nervousness. “Hey champ,” his dad answered. Kurt had taught him how to recognize the caller-ID earlier in the year and he was finally catching on. “What’s up Kurt?”

Kurt breathed deeply and tried to make pleasantries instead of jumping right into the dire nature of his situation with Puck. He figured that he was doing nobody any good springing all of this information on.

“Hey Dad,” he said. “How are you?”

His father wasn’t buying it. He was very perceptive and he knew when his son was lying. There was a reason that Kurt had never been able to get away with anything as a child. “I’m fine…” he said slowly. “Kurt, what’s going on? Are you alright?”

Kurt winced a little bit at his father’s perceptive nature. He loved the man for it but sometimes it would have been nice to be able to beat around the bush a little.

“We’ve run into a little bit of trouble at home, Dad,” he said softly. “I need your help with something.”

“What is it?” Burt asked immediately. “Do you and Noah need money? Is Beth alright?”

Kurt shook his head from side to side and then answered. “No dad,” he said softly. “There’s just been a little trouble with…”

“With what Kurt?”

“Do you remember what happened to Noah when we were in high school?” he asked, knowing that was the dumbest question in the entire world. His father had been there when he and Puck had suffered through the effects of his rape. He had even found Kurt sneaking Puck into the house to sleep because he was afraid his nightmares would rouse his sister.

“Of course I do, Kurt.”

“The man who did it got out,” Kurt said slowly. “He wants revenge on Puck. He’s literally lost his mind and we need to get out of the city. I wanted to know if we could come home. Beth and I first, because Noah has to get some things sorted out for work. We don’t know what else we can do.”

His father was quiet for a very long time. Kurt knew that was a lot to lay down on the man and felt badly. Even though his father had been in good health for the last five years, someone with a heart condition was never the person you wanted to toss seriously bad news down on. Finally, after his long silence the man spoke up. “Of course,” he said. “Kurt, you get yourself and that little girl here right now. How do you guys know how much danger he’s in?”

Kurt swallowed. “First it was vague threats,” he admitted, “but then Noah was attacked. We need to get out of here.”

“We’ll have the guest rooms ready immediately Kurt. Just get yourself and that little girl back home. This isn’t something you boys can mess around with at all.”

“Of course it isn’t, Dad. I…thank you.”

“You’re gonna be okay Kurt. Just come home as soon as you can get yourself here. Are you doing okay?”

Kurt laughed at that question. “We're scared and I have to admit that we're scrambling a little bit. He's freaked out, terrified and I just want to keep everyone safe. We need to transfer Beth to the Lima school district as fast as we can and she's going to hate what we're doing to her and my work has given me a month of leave and Puck's work is being really bad and we both have to drop school for emergency leave and it's all turning upside down..."

“Kurt, I want you to just get over here as soon as you can.”

“We will.”

Once Kurt hung up, he closed his eyes, exhausted. He hung up and walked into the living room. He saw that Noah and Beth were sitting on the floor and Beth looked absolutely angry. He was not sure that he had ever seen his tiny daughter look so furious. She had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Puck like he was going to hurt her or something. "I don't wanna go to Grandma and Grandpa's house again,” she said firmly.

"I know, Bethie," Puck said softly. "It’s only for a little while though. Grandpa Burt can teach you how to play basketball like he wanted to, remember? It'll be a lot of fun."

"I don't wanna."

"I'm sorry Beth. Our house isn't safe right now."

"Then let's get another house!" she whined. "There are a lot of houses 'round here, not all the way at Grandma and Grandpa's."

"Beth," Kurt said, crawling down. "Grandpa is so excited to see his girl.

"I have school and practice and stuff. Grandpa can come here."

Kurt sighed a little bit, knowing the transition was not going to be an easy one for their little girl. “Can I be honest with you Beth?” he asked. Puck gave him a confused look but Beth just nodded seriously. “I don’t want to leave our house either. I have a job that I really love and I have school too and it makes me absolutely sad to have to leave it.”

“Why are we leavin’ then?” she asked.

“Because, it’s not safe for us to live here,” Kurt said, brushing the tiny child’s hair out of her face. He could tell Puck had been the one to pull her hair up that morning. He chuckled at the thought. “I want to be safe more than anything. I want us all to be safe and don’t want anything bad to happen to us. We’re a tough, tough family, little miss, and we are strong. Sometimes strong people have to do stuff they don’t want to but it makes them even stronger.”

The little girl huffed a little bit nodded. “Kay,” she mumbled.

Puck shot Kurt them most grateful look that he had ever seen on his fiancé. Kurt shook his head a little and ushered Beth into the bedroom.

Later that night, lying in bed with Puck, Kurt was dealing with more fear than ever. Maybe he wasn’t as strong as he assured his child that he was. “I booked the flight, we’ll be gone in the morning,” he said. “I think this is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, leaving you alone to deal with this.”

“Kurt, it’s my problem,” Puck said. “Plus, as soon as I sort things out with my asshole of a boss, it’ll all be taken care of. You, me and Bethie will be safe until the police take care of this maniac.”

“I just want to end this,” Kurt whispered. “Can we have five minutes of peace?”

Puck ran a hand over his leg, trying to be comforting but even Kurt could see the distant fear in his eyes. “I dunno,” he whispered.

“I love you.”

“I love you too Kurt.”

“I want to end this.”

“Believe me. I do too.”


	10. Stupidity.

The apartment was quiet. Puck would never admit it to anyone but he absolutely hated being alone. He was such a child, sometimes, and he was also a fucking idiot. He could have tried harder to get back to Lima with Kurt and Beth. He was beating around the bush about it and he knew it. Part of him just wanted so badly to confront this head on that he felt like leaving was the worst possible idea. He wanted to face the bastard who ruined huge parts of his life and tear him down himself. Maybe he wasn’t exactly a far cry from the punk who had been sent to juvie in the first place.

He was just never going to find peace of mind until he got that revenge himself. For years, his fear of the psychopath had been lying dormant but it was always there. He could see those stupid, haunting hawk eyes in his nightmares and now he had come face to face once and froze up. He had to make this end himself. He needed to stop the fear from winning and then he would be the winner.

Kurt and Beth were safe. He had taken responsibility for his family and now he was planning on doing something insanely stupid. He was going to seek out the stalker himself and make him pay for the havoc he had wreaked on Puck’s mind. He made a few phone calls, thought about it and then took his keys and a knife before scouting out the apartment. He needed to do this for his own sanity’s sake.

He loved their apartment building. It was a lot cleaner and safer than the one he and Kurt had started out in before Beth was born, but of course it was the one where a crazy stalker decided that he would torture them. It was a good community but Puck was almost certain that he could locate Trevor if he tried to find him. Puck knew a lot about crazy people. His knowledge came from the fact that he was very likely a crazy person himself. Crazy people fixated on things. Puck had fixated on things for years. When he was a little kid he used to fixate on the memory of his father and the hope that the bastard would come back to him. He had spent hours and hours of his childhood planning for his father’s return that slowly warped into hours and hours of planning revenge on the man that he would never have a chance to partake in. The year that Quinn got pregnant, her child was his fixation. He suffered in silence while Quinn tried to pretend that Beth belonged to Finn and when it finally came out that she was his he had driven himself mad trying to support her, trying to prove that he could be a good father despite the fact that he was an asshole teenager.

When he was raped the next year, that became his fixation and look, it was his fixation yet again. He had to stop the man who had haunted his dreams for years. He had to make it all stop before it infested him and turned him back into the dark, obsessed person that he had been. He had to be better than his craziness for his daughter’s sake. He had to end the cycle of fear that he was trapped inside of.

Puck hated the fact that he was raped as a teenager and the fact that that rape totally controlled his life and had since the moment it happened. It was crazy and the obsession that had been every little piece of who he was needed to stop. He needed to stop thinking about it and it had to stop driving him deeper and deeper into chaos. He needed to end it right where it had begun, with himself and a troubled boy who raped him. He clenched his fist with more determination than he had ever felt in his life.

Puck crossed over to the area outside of the little apartment complex where Trevor had attacked him. There was no sign that an attack had occurred there anymore, but it was pretty safe to assume that it would be a good place to find the man once again. He could not get into the gated community without being seen as a threat and the entire community was alert for strange people but this place was just outside, pretty easy access. He clenched his jaw and looked around. “If you’re around here I want you to look me in the eye,” he mumbled low.

What on earth was he doing? He wasn’t a sixteen year old kid with problems anymore. He was a grown man with a fiancé and a child. He was in charge of not only his life but was in charge of his family and keeping them safe from harm. What kind of idiot was he? He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Yes, the rape had tortured him for years but he was dumb to sit here and try and seek out the unstable man who had raped him. He needed to be where his family was. Puck turned around and prepared to head home.

Of course, that was when he came face to face with the man, yet again.

“You actually lookin’ for me?” he asked, flashing a toothy grin. He looked sadistically amused, like he could not believe Puck’s stupidity. Puck looked at him and glared, unable to believe his own stupidity but luckily he had a couple of things up his sleeve.

“Of course I am.”

“I gotta hand it to you kid,” Trevor said, snarling a little bit as he eyed Puck up and down. “You definitely have more balls than you did when we met up in juvie. Tried to be all tough ass and were knocked down a peg in seconds.”

“You raped me.”

“I put you in your place.”

Puck did not think but simply reacted. He drew the knife from his pocket and lunged for the man. When he did, Trevor pulled out the gun on him. He felt the barrel against his side and froze up. He had known that the other man would have some kind of weaponry but he had just gone for it. Puck was glad that he had made other arrangements or else he would have been in a world of trouble. In fact, he probably already was, but at least he’d tried.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now, stupid punk kid?”


	11. Danger

Kurt did not exactly miss Lima, Ohio. For one thing, he had just been back for the holiday and for another, it always seemed to bring back bad memories. It had its good memories too, of course. He had found his family and his closest of friends there; he had learned his personal strengths and of course he had the McKinley High glee club. Still, it also reminded him of slushies to the face, being thrown into dumpsters and his boyfriend being raped.

Kurt really just wanted to go back home. He wanted the man who raped his boyfriend to be put behind bars forever or just killed or something. He wanted peace in his life. He wanted to finally get his degree and give his daughter and future husband the life that they so truly deserved. He wanted some peace. “Beth, what are you doing?” he asked, coming up behind his daughter who seemed to be sulking in the guest room they were staying in.

The little girl turned to Kurt and gave him a huffy sigh. “I miss daddy,” she said. “I want daddy to be here right now already.”

Kurt sighed a little bit. He had to admit that his daughter had it right. He missed Puck too, so much and he was absolutely worried about him. Kurt knew that Puck was smart, but he also knew that his fiancé was reckless and hadn’t been the same since he realized that the demon from his past had returned. He knew very well that Puck could possibly do something stupid and the very thought made him sick to his stomach. “I miss him too baby girl,” he said, reaching his arms out for a hug.

Beth knew that he needed a hug, it seemed, because as grouchy as she was, she hugged him tightly. “This is stupid papa, so stupid.”

He nodded a little bit, hugging the tiny girl close to his chest. Normally he would tell her not to say that, but it was stupid. Here he was sitting around in Lima while Puck was probably doing something utterly asinine.

He looked over Beth’s shoulder and saw his father. He was looking at Kurt and Beth’s tight embrace with deep concern and understanding. “Kurt, are you alright?” the man asked softly, always knowing his son.

Kurt shook his head and let Beth go. “Beth, can you go find grandma for me?” he asked softly.

The little girl rolled her eyes, probably knowing that her daddy was upset, but listened to him obediently anyway. She headed down the hall and he looked at his father. He hated to lay such a burden down on his father but he was so confused and so tired. He didn’t know what to do. “I’m not okay dad,” he whispered. “I’m really worried about Puck. I think he’s going to do something stupid.”

“What do you mean something stupid?” Burt asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Kurt sat next to him and looked down at the floor. He wasn’t even sure what he meant. God, he was probably going crazy.

“I…”   
He stopped. That was when he realized that Puck was going to do something incredibly dumb. Kurt had left his home with the sinking feeling that it was the stupidest thing he’d ever done and it undoubtedly was. He knew Noah Puckerman better than he knew anyone else in the whole world and if Puck wanted to get out and come to Ohio he would have. No employer was strong enough to stop him from doing what he wanted.

Oh god, Puck wanted to face Trevor himself.

He was pulled out of his realization by his father, who laid a hand on his shoulder. “Kurt,” he said softly. “You just went paler than a ghost. What’s going on?”

“I have to go home,” Kurt told him quickly, standing up. “Can you and Carole watch Beth for a few days? Oh my god, Dad, I have to get home before Noah does the stupidest thing he could possibly do.”

His father stood up as well and laid a hand on his shoulder. “What are you talking about Kurt?” he asked firmly.

“He’s going to face that…that rapist…oh my god Dad.”

"Wait a minute son," Burt said firmly, steadying Kurt with both hands. Kurt stopped in his hysteria and looked straight into his father's eyes. Burt spoke slowly and clearly, bringing Kurt down a little, but still he knew that his fears were not unfounded. "I know that Noah has made some pretty rash decisions in the past but he's not that boy anymore. He has you, he's going to marry you Kurt, and he has his daughter. He's not going to risk all of that to get some closure with a rapist. He's not that damned stupid. Is he?"

Kurt would have laughed at the hesitance at the end of his father's statement if the situation wasn't so dire. "Dad, this is serious," he said softly. "Yes, I truly believe that he would. Noah is the most wonderful man in the world and he's a good father and I love him so much but you can't even begin to understand what that rape did to him."

"If you really think he'd do something like that and you need to go Kurt, go. I know that you're probably the only one who can talk some sense into that kid."

Kurt nodded. "Thank you Dad," he whispered. "I love you so much."

Kurt rushed right past his father and into the kitchen, where Carole had a tired out looking Beth sitting on her lap. He knelt down in front of them. "Bethie," he said softly. "I need to go back home to bring your daddy to us. Is that going to be okay with you? It'll make daddy come back a lot faster."

Carole looked concerned but did not open her mouth. Beth nodded slowly. "You're gonna bring him back here?" she asked softly, looking up at him with the big eyes that had owned his heart years before.

"Yep," Kurt said softly, his voice as comforting as he could manage. "I am going to bring daddy back here." All in one piece, Kurt added mentally, hoping he could get back home before Puck did anything stupid. "Can you be a very good girl for grandma and grandpa? I'm going to ask them for a full report when daddy and I get back here."

The girl nodded slowly.

"Don't worry about her Kurt," Carole said, her voice comforting. Carole didn't even know what was going on and didn't even ask Kurt. She was just there, a soft, soothing and comforting source. Kurt was so glad that his father had married her when he did. She was completely his mother and the best grandmother that Beth could ever ask for. "She's a good girl and we are going to have so much fun while we wait for you."

Kurt nodded. "Thank you," he whispered.

Kurt was buying a return ticket and out of the door in no time at all. He was praying, even though he never prayed, that Puck didn’t do anything stupid yet. He knew in his heart that was planning to.

I swear to God, Noah, Kurt thought bitterly as his cab made its way into the city to catch the plane. I swear to God if you did anything to get yourself hurt I will kill you.


	12. Walking cliches.

“You shouldn’t kill me because I’m goddamned gorgeous,” Puck said, pulling on that bad boy arrogance that had saved his life time and time again in high school. Sure, it was out of practice but he knew that it had been lying there dormant all of these years. He was a father, a soon-to-be husband and living a life so far from that little punk but he still existed inside of him. He would always be that guy deep down.

“God you’re cute,” Trevor teased, pressing his body and the barrel of the gun back into Puck’s side. “You act like you have so much control over a situation, even though you’re scared shitless. I know exactly what terrifies you. You’re terrified that I’ll stick my dick into your asshole again and tear you apart like the little fag you are. You still cry at night about it, don’t you? Took away your fuckin’ innocence or whatever the shit you fags call it.”

Puck opened his eyes wide as the memories of that night still plagued him, sat in the back of his mind like some kind of disease or sickness. He was so afraid of this man and afraid that he’d rape him again but he hid it, fearless. “I’m not afraid of you,” he said.

“You’re lying,” the man drawled, purring the words out. “You’ve always been afraid of me. I’ve been the monster that haunts your dreams, haven’t I?” He has it perfectly, of course. He has been the monster haunting Puck’s dreams for years. He has been the blackness that has haunted Puck since he was a little boy. He had nightmares for the entire first year after he was raped. Part of why he and Kurt got so close, after all, was the way Puck would come over to avoid Sarah hearing his nightmares.

He closed his eyes and he was there again. He was sixteen and lying in bed, tossing and turning from a horrible nightmare. All he could see was Trevor; he could see Trevor’s scary animalistic eyes, his hands, his long, lean torso covered in tattoos. He screamed and thrashed but instead of his hands hitting the man who raped him, they hit the warm body of his little sister. She had only been twelve at the time.

“Noah,” she whispered, leaning into his shoulder. “You were having a nightmare again.”

He clung to her. “I know Sarah,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. God, I love you sis, I love you so much.”

It went on like that again and again and again until he had to go down to Kurt’s safe, soundproofed, basement bedroom in order to spare her some of that pain. No, he didn’t have to lie to Trevor about his fear. His fear made him human and he was human. He had no reason to be ashamed of his fears.

“You’re right,” he said, as he flashed back to the present world. “I am afraid of you and I’ve been afraid of you since you raped me. I’m not ashamed of the fact that I have fears. Human beings, yeah, we got fear. We live through fear but we survive it and we’re better than that. I am afraid.”

He had to admit, it felt good to just say it. Admitting to his fear out loud to the man who had caused him so much fear and so much suffering was cathartic and it really took the fear away from him for a moment.

To his surprise, his declaration led to Trevor hitting him in the face with the butt of his gun. “You are such an idiot,” he ranted, shaking his head from side to side in disbelief. “How the hell did you think you were going to come out of this alive, or with what’s left of your precious dignity intact? You know what? I was gonna kill you, right here and right now, just put a bullet through your brain but I want a replay of how it felt to tear you open, kid.”

For a moment, Puck had another surge of fear. He tried to wipe his nose, which was probably bleeding from when he was struck. Trevor reached down with the hand not holding the gun and tried to undo his pants.

“I’m not as stupid as you think I am,” he said. “I knew this was a dumbass move and I had a backup plan.”

Puck chuckled as the sirens that filled the air seemed to come with movie-level timing. He was such a badass that of course, they had to come at the perfect time. He had timed it out perfectly and he was just lucky that his rapist and the person he feared most was also a deranged nut job who could make clichéd serial killers bored with his rambling and instability. He laughed almost hysterically as the cops pulled up in the alleyway. “Right here boys,” he teased softly. He knew he was a lunatic for setting this up but he needed it and it all happened right to plan.

The police cars swarmed around them and several uniformed officers came rushing to his side. He had figured this one out. Twenty minutes from the nearest police station to the apartment, give or take five to ten minutes for them to find out where the dumbass criminal was. It was perfect and completely to plan. He looked at Trevor and smiled a little bit. He honestly found this whole event hysterical, in spite of the fact that his life had just been in danger. “You want revenge you take it,” he said, backing up. “You don’t go all Doctor Evil on me.”

“Put your weapon down,” one of the officers told Trevor in a commanding voice. The man looked to his left and then to his right. He was completely surrounded. He had chosen a bad place for a confrontation. He lunged forward but stopped and then raised his weapon, aiming and bam; a loud gunshot resonated through the air. Puck winced a little, mostly at the sound, but then he realized he was in a lot of pain all of a sudden. Oh shit.

He fell backwards against the concrete and tried to keep his eyes from closing. He focused in and out and saw a lot of blue, cops, everywhere. He looked to his side and saw Trevor being mand handled into a corner. The last thing that he saw as his vision started to fade in and out was Trevor standing above him, taking the same gun he had just used to shoot him…oh god he shot him, and then a shot rang out. He saw the blood and brain particles on the wall, laughing to himself before it went dark.

Killing himself was better than going back to jail. Fuck, the guy was a walking cliché.


	13. Arrival

Kurt got home late that evening, exhausted and frustrated by everything. The cab bringing him home pulled up a few blocks down from his apartment. Kurt broke into a run when he saw police all around the building. He confronted the very first officer that he ran into. “What the hell is going on here?” he practically screeched, unable to hide the fear that was coming off of him in waves. What the hell had happened? Where was Puck? Why were all these police here? Oh God, was he okay?

“There was a confrontation in this area but I can’t tell you anything,” the man said sincerely.

“I live here!” Kurt yelled in his face. “I live here and my stupid ass of a fiancé is here. Oh my god, if he got hurt I swear to god…what happened? Please.” Yes, he was panicking but he had good reason to believe that something had happened to Puck. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his rapidly beating heart.

Luckily, before Kurt became guilty of committing a crime against a police officer, the officer in charge of Puck’s case came rushing up to his aide. “Mr. Hummel,” he said, giving the other officer a look saying that he could leave. “Mr. Hummel, there was a confrontation just outside of this building.”

“What did he do?” Kurt nearly whimpered out.

“I don’t know the whole story,” the man said, honestly. “We were alerted by your fiancé that the perpetrator had been spotted. When my men arrived on the scene, he had a gun. He killed himself when he was surrounded. He shot himself in the head.” The man looked uncomfortable and was obviously not telling Kurt everything.

Kurt was not going to stand for that. “Where is Puck?”

“He was shot in the abdomen and taken to the hospital. They’ve been trying to get in contact with you but obviously missed you in transit.”

Kurt swore that his heart stopped beating. Shot. Puck had been shot. He shook his head and started crying even before he realized that he was crying. Everything that he feared could happen actually happened before he could get home. “No,” he mumbled, not able to understand or comprehend what was going on. “He was shot. Is he…is he alright? I…oh my god, oh my god.” He had to get to the hospital, immediately, but he was suddenly in no condition to drive, his hands shaking.

“I’ll get someone you to the hospital,” the man said tenderly. “There’s very little word so far but from what I know he’s stable.”

The officer assigned to bring Kurt to the hospital was pretty young, at least, for a police officer. The whole time in the police vehicle, not a word was shared between the two of them. Kurt was simply trying to keep himself from hyperventilating, cursing himself for leaving Puck and cursing Puck for getting close enough to get hurt, under his breath. He thought of worst case scenarios and how Beth could never survive without her father overwhelmed him. He also thought of himself and how much he relied on Puck. He needed Puck to be alright. Puck had to be alright. He thought of nothing but Puck and his well being until he ran out of the car and toward the hospital.

It was a relief to actually get to the hospital. The woman at the reception desk looked up surprised to see the police officer, but it was Kurt who demanded all of her attention. He knew how to call a room to attention and he did with his presence. “My fiancé was brought here, shot,” Kurt whispered, but with intensity that he was sure could not be ignored. “I need to see him, right now.”

The woman got the medical staff on duty’s attention and Kurt was taken back before long. A woman in a white coat told him quietly that Puck was unconscious but his wounds were not serious and no major organs had been struck at all. When she told him that his fiancé was going to be just fine, his heart stopped its frantic beating and slowed enough to where he could see without blurring vision.

“Oh my god, thank you.”

When he was finally allowed to see Puck, though, it didn’t matter that the other man was going to be okay. Kurt saw him lying in a hospital bed, unconscious and with a large amount of bandaging over his midsection and started sobbing. He was pale in the face and surrounded by monitoring devices and it just hurt to see him like that. “What on earth were you thinking?” he asked. As inappropriate as it seemed to be angry at Puck, Kurt knew that he had been doing something absolutely stupid to get this close.

He sat with Puck for a long time, holding his hand, shaking his head from side to side and before long Puck started to come to. The nurses had been expecting it soon, so immediately two women came inside the room, but Kurt felt like he and his fiancé were alone. He resisted the urge to slap him when he looked around the room and asked where he was. “Kurt?” he asked softly, meeting Kurt’s eyes. “Hey, Kurt, what are you doing here?”

“You have no idea how badly I want to slap you right now,” Kurt whispered through his tears. If his beloved wasn’t in such a pathetic, sad state, he would have in the rage that rushed through him. “Do you remember how you got here?”

Puck frowned but then the realization of where he was seemed to hit him. “Yeah, I do remember,” he said, shaking his head a little bit. “He was holding a gun up against me and then the police came, cause I…I called the police because I knew I’d find him. I needed to not be…uh, completely stupid.”

“You confronted him, didn’t you?” Kurt ranted, unable to stop himself despite the look on the staff’s faces. “Oh my god, Noah, you confronted the deranged man who did all of those horrible things to you. You could have been killed! Do you realize that you were shot? What if he had shot you somewhere else and you died tonight? You very well could have died! Do you know where that would leave me and your daughter?”

Puck nodded slowly. “I deserved that,” he said, still obviously drowsy. “I just had to confront him Kurt. I couldn’t keep living in fear of him. I had to see him face to face and actually handle this or he was going to haunt my nightmares forever.”

“We need to take his vitals,” a woman said, getting between them.

“Wait, is he dead?” Puck asked as she began to fuss with him. Kurt backed off to let the medical workers do their job. He couldn’t stop shaking and crying he was just so damned frustrated. “I remember seeing blood on the wall…”

“He’s dead,” Kurt whispered softly. “He killed himself.”

Through Kurt’s tears, he saw Puck’s dazed smile.


	14. Aftermath

“Dad, I need you to bring Beth,” Kurt said, clutching the phone to his ear. He knew that his father would panic the moment that he told him what had happened and come anyway, but he had to ask and be calm. He had to keep control even though he felt he was losing it; keeping in control would keep everything together as it always had. “I’ll pay for the tickets for you three and everything. I just really, really need my family here. Please.”

“What happened?”

Kurt knew there was no way to tell his father what had happened without panicking him, but he tried to lay it on gently. “Dad,” he said softly, focusing his energy on keeping things calm. “Dad, Puck got himself shot. I’m at the hospital up by our place and I really, really need you to bring Beth. Puck’s fine and everything but I’m just…exhausted. The guy who raped Puck, he’s…he’s dead.”

“Oh God, Kurt.”

He could hear his father yelling and cursing under his breath but he was so tired that he couldn’t think enough to process the words. “I know that it’s a hassle for you and Carole and I hate to ask, but…”

“We’ll be there, Kurt.”

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I just need my baby girl so badly right now. This has been a mess.”

Kurt quickly got off the phone with his father and leaned back against the chair. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. His life was so completely upside down sometimes. He started out as that awkward gay kid who was made fun of and tormented most of his life and then he fell in love with Puck, who was delicate and fragile underneath a tough exterior and who had been raped brutally and needed someone. Then they ended up raising the child he had at sixteen together, because of her mother’s tragic death. Now there was this. Their life was so insane. It made him a little crazy but he kept hanging on.

He returned to the other man’s hospital room the moment that he could. Puck gave him a weary but gentle smile and he almost started sobbing. “What’s wrong Kurt?” Puck asked with an exhausted expression.

“This is just a little hard to handle on top of all the crazy things we’ve endured,” Kurt admitted, shaking his head a little bit and grabbing Puck’s hand. Yes, he was upset at this whole situation but he was thankful right now just to have his future husband at his side and his baby girl on the way. He was so damned overwhelmed he wanted to be sick.

“We have been through a hell of a lot,” Puck mumbled wistfully.

“You can say that again.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Puck said, his voice pretty strong for someone lying in a hospital bed looking ragged. “The past is gone and the only thing that’s left for us is our future with our daughter.”

Kurt shook his head and leaned down, pressing his lips to Puck’s. “I’m in love with an idiot,” he said fondly, keeping his eyes locked on the other man’s. He was so in love with Puck that it hurt sometimes. He knew that he was in love with him for years but still the revelation came back time and time again to shock the hell out of him. Noah Puckerman was the love of his life and nothing mattered except the future they shared with their daughter. It was so true.

“I’m your favorite idiot,” Puck said against Kurt’s lips.

Kurt rolled his eyes but didn’t move. His forehead still pressed to Puck’s, he just was so thankful that everything was alright. “Dad and Carole are bringing Beth,” he said softly. “I know it’s sudden but I really, really want my daughter back here and I’m sure you do too.”

Puck nodded, obviously very happy to hear that. “Good, I need my baby girl,” he whispered, relieved. Moments later, his eyes began to darken some. “Kurt, you know that I’m really, really sorry right? I wasn’t thinking about you and Beth and I was just stupid. I know that I’m…I know that I can be stupid but you guys are my whole world.”

“True me, we know,” he said. “I swear though, if you ever get yourself shot again I will kill you.”

“Deal,” Puck responded nodding.

“Cause you see, I’ve been in love with this idiot since our first kiss in the park all those years ago,” Kurt admitted. He paused for a moment, just staring in Puck’s eyes. “Why did you do it, Noah?”

Puck shook his head a little bit. “I don’t really know,” he said. “Well, that’s actually not at all true. I know why. It’s just frustrating. I have been running from the memories of that guy for years. I have always had him in the back of my head, even after the nightmares I had stopped. He was always there and always holding me back. I realized that I could face my demons, so to speak, head-on and it sort of became an obsession. I know that you probably can’t understand Kurt.”

“I do,” Kurt said, rubbing the back of his hand. “I saw the way that it tortured you, remember. I’ve been around since then.”

Puck nodded. “I just had to deal with it,” he said. “I know it was stupid.”

“It was,” Kurt said, looking down at their hands. “Still, I think that if I were in your shoes, I would have done the same thing.”

“Really?”

Kurt nodded.

“I promise you,” Puck said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling, “I promise that we are going to have an absolutely normal, domestic, typical life after this. We’ve been through too much shit too young Kurt. I want to be an old dude with kids now.”

“Kids?” Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well we are sort of getting married soon. You know that our second child is going to come sooner or later. We can’t have Beth being a spoiled only child.”

“You get out of the hospital first,” Kurt chided. “Then we’ll think about marriage and kids.”

Puck smiled dreamily. “I want to get married really soon, Kurt,” he said. “We really have nothing to wait for and it’ll be the start of the domestic, no problem, no fear kind of thing. We should even probably do it before we get back to our normal lives.”


	15. Next step: new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Ah, I can’t believe it’s over. Thank you so much for the people who continuously read and reviewed. It’s no secret that I’m slightly addicted to this verse, so it may not sit at a trilogy if I eventually come up with an idea for a fourth part but I’d like to let it sit for now. You know there will at least be a one-shot about the new Hummel-Puckerman child that is bound to come along.

The backyard was small but Kurt had designed it beautifully for the wedding. Flowers hung from every corner of everything and the white arch he had crossed over the center was almost fairytale like in its nature. “It really is beautiful,” Rachel said, leaning against Finn and staring all around her. “I had no idea that they would get married so soon, but it only is natural, isn’t it? After all they’ve been through, they deserve this. They deserve this more than anyone we know.”

“You can say that again,” Finn mumbled, squeezing her shoulder. It was obvious that he had admired all that his stepbrother and best friend had done in such a short time. He looked across the way to see Quinn sitting with Sam. They had broken up before college but everyone could tell that they were slowly gravitating back towards each other. It was nice, almost as though nothing had changed in the past years, but god, so much had changed. “I still can’t believe that Puck was shot less than a month ago.”

“What even happened with that?” Quinn asked softly, leaning over the middle aisle.

“Don’t even ask,” Finn said, holding onto Rachel with one arm and shaking his head. He didn’t want to share anything that Kurt and Puck had told him, plus the pair was incredibly evasive when asked. “Kurt and Puck both don’t fully answer when I ask.”

“I guess that it’s none of our business,” Quinn said shaking her head a little bit. “Still, it amazes me all of the stuff that Kurt and Puck have gone through. I mean, ever since we were kids the two of them have survived all of these awful things and did it together. They’re the strongest pair of people that I have ever met.”

“They are definitely two of the bravest people that I’ve ever met,” Finn said softly, thoughtfully. “I am really proud that Kurt’s my brother.”

Rachel nodded at his side, but her eyes were locked on the front of the yard watching and waiting for the moment that they were all waiting for. Everyone eventually found himself waiting. That moment finally came when Carole sat down in the front and nudged Finn in the side. “Show’s on,” she said grinning softly. She was obviously as proud of Kurt as she would be her own son. Kurt wasn’t a stepchild, a stepbrother, not anymore. He was family.

Beth looked around her and then walked out and down the aisle. Kurt and Puck had chosen a non-traditional wedding, of course, considering that gay marriage had only been legal for less than a year but they had also chosen to keep the flower girl aspect because well, their daughter was the cutest child that Lima, Ohio had ever laid eyes on. The little girl was wearing a white dress with a green sash that matched her eyes and smiled as she tossed the flower petals on the aisle in front of her. She looked a lot like Quinn now, something that wasn’t lost on her biological mother. Rachel caught Quinn staring at spoke up, trying to help her feel better.

"It's amazing how Kurt color coordinated everything in a month," Rachel mumbled, shaking her head. Finn laughed, knowing that if anyone could do it, it was Kurt.

"She's absolutely gorgeous," Quinn said. Even though she had adopted the aunt role in Beth's life, now and then a mothering comment would come from her. She couldn’t help it. She saw little traces of herself in Beth again and again but knew Beth’s fathers would give her so much better.

Beth lowered her eyes and hurried up to the front of the aisle. The wedding then immediately carried on, everyone waiting for Kurt and Puck. Kurt stayed close to Burt for most of the ceremony, until the boys spoke their vows. Everyone was hanging on every word that the two young men said, knowing all they had been through and all their relationship meant to them and to others.

Kurt spoke first. He was dressed fantastically in a white suit with slight accents and he looked on the verge of tears. "Noah," he said, shaking his head. "God, if you had told me that the dumb, mowhawked bully from high school was going to be the love of my life, I would have told you that you were crazy. We've been through so much. We've survived things that most people would never even fathom happening to them. We someone brought it all together and here we are with our little girl."

He looked at Beth for a moment and she positively beamed at her papa's smile. Kurt swallowed and then the tears came as he tried to speak again. "I...I love you, so much," he whispered. "I'm at my best when I'm with you and we complement each other perfectly. You could not have one of us without the other. I just can't wait to start living a normal, hopefully drama free, life with my husband and our baby girl. I love you and I want to be with you forever."

Puck swallowed deeply himself but cried too, ashamedly. He looked incredibly handsome in a dark suit, with just the slightest signs of bandages peeking out from under his suit. "I love you," he said seriously, "so damned much that it hurts Kurt. You know, I would've called you crazy too. I didn't even know I liked boys but you sure proved to me that I did."

The chuckles in the yard eased Puck's tension and let him talk easier. "I went through incredible trauma as a kid," he said softly. "I wouldn't have survived it if it wasn't for you. You came into my life and turned around all the pain I was experiencing. You...you saved my life. Then, when Beth came back into our lives, you saved her and Kurt, you saved me again. I'm stupid, I'm reckless, I get myself into a hell of a lot of trouble but you're always there for me. I want to be with you forever and I know now I will."

"Do you promise to be loyal, faithful and love your husband for the rest of your lives?"

Puck actually laughed at that question. "Do you even have to ask?"

The "I do” was said and then Kurt and Puck kissed, lips touching for a magical split second. It was perfect and every eye in the room seemed locked on them.

The moment that it was official, Kurt swept Beth up into his arms and kissed her hair, holding Puck with one hand. The family that had been through so much was still strong and getting stronger by the moment.


End file.
